STIKBOTS PIRATE MOVIE PLAYSET

There’s a kind of toy that I dread. The StikBots Pirate Movie Set is one of these toys. I know that each time I review one, in the beginning, the toy sounds amazing, and I’m positive that it’s a wonderful idea for the boys to try it out – and then the toy arrives, there are a million pieces that they want to investigate and I have no idea of the technology or skill involved. Enter Gav [Daddy].

The StikBots pirate movie set looks fantastic – there’s a pop out movie set which was erected on our living room table and the whole of Saturday afternoon was dedicated to creating the following movie by the boys and Gav. It took us some time to piece it all together from the software which comes with the StikBots Pirate Movie Set, and add some sound, but it’s very cool. I have no idea how they put it together, but I did hear plenty of discussion about what was going on and what the storyline should be. Apparently it’s not good to wing it when creating stop-motion animation.

In case you’re wondering what a StikBot is, they’re amazing. I came home from the BlogOn conference in May with one and my boys were fascinated. They’re little fully poseable robot-like people with suction cups as feet which means that they can be positioned nearly anywhere that has a suitable surface.There’s a StikBot animation app which is free to download for iPhone and Android operating systems and which can capture your adventures on the pirate set. Inside this pirate movie set were one StikBot pirate, nine little weapons, some pirate clothes stickers for designing your cast, the pirate ship [which is open on one side so that indoor action take place too], sharks, treasure chest, cannons, coins and palm trees.

They loved the set – and making the movie – and the only complaint we really had was that it was hard to make a movie with only one StikBot, and luckily we have one already at home, but it’s pretty hard to be a pirate when there’s no one to loot!

We hope you enjoy the movie – this set would be a brilliant Christmas or birthday present for anyone who’s a budding animator – and at £24.99 it’s very reasonable with huge possibilities for play.